What is the expense ratio of IWF vs SHY?

IWF has an expense ratio of 0.18%, while SHY has an expense ratio of 0.15%.

IWF vs SHY

iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF vs iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF

Last updated: 2026-04-02

IWF iShares

iShares Russell 1000 Growth ETF (IWF) is an exchange-traded fund issued by iShares that provides exposure to large-cap U.S. growth stocks with above-average earnings potential. It charges a moderate expense ratio of 0.18%. The fund offers a modest dividend yield of 0.39%. Launched in 2000, the fund has a 26-year track record.

AUM: $108.0B ER: 0.18% Yield: 0.39% Since: May 22, 2000

SHY iShares

iShares 1-3 Year Treasury Bond ETF (SHY) is an exchange-traded fund issued by iShares that provides exposure to short-duration U.S. Treasury bonds with low interest rate risk. It charges a low expense ratio of 0.15%. The fund offers an attractive dividend yield of 3.76%. Launched in 2002, the fund has a 24-year track record.

AUM: $24.6B ER: 0.15% Yield: 3.76% Since: Jul 22, 2002

Quick Verdict

SHY has a slightly lower expense ratio (0.15% vs 0.18%), saving about $59 per $10,000 over 10 years. Over the past year, IWF has significantly outperformed with a 18.2% return vs -0.2%. Income investors may prefer SHY for its higher yield (3.8% vs 0.4%).

Key Metrics

Metric	IWF	SHY
Expense Ratio	0.18%	0.15%
Dividend Yield	0.4%	3.8%
Fund Family	iShares	iShares
Category	US Large Cap Growth	US Short-Term Treasury

Performance Chart

Indexed to 100 at start (5-year comparison)

IWF +71.3%

SHY -4.5%

Performance Comparison

Period	IWF	SHY	Difference
1 Month	-4.73%	-0.59%	-4.14%
3 Months	-8.83%	-0.65%	-8.18%
6 Months	-8.48%	-0.57%	-7.91%
YTD	-8.83%	-0.65%	-8.18%
1 Year	+18.20%	-0.19%	+18.39%
3 Years	+75.80%	+0.29%	+75.51%
5 Years	+71.26%	-4.51%	+75.77%

Fee Impact Over Time

Estimated fee cost difference assuming 8% annual returns

Investment	Period	IWF Fees	SHY Fees	You Save
$10.000	10 years	$357	$298	$59
$10.000	20 years	$1.529	$1.278	$252
$10.000	30 years	$4.912	$4.109	$802
$50.000	10 years	$1.786	$1.490	$296
$50.000	30 years	$24.558	$20.547	$4.011
$100.000	30 years	$49.116	$41.094	$8.022

Risk Metrics

Based on 5 years of daily returns

Metric	IWF	SHY
Annualized Volatility	21.4%	2.1%
Max Drawdown	-33.1%	-6.7%
Sharpe Ratio	0.40	-2.55

Dividend Comparison

Metric	IWF	SHY
Annual Dividend (per share)	$1.69	$3.10
Dividend Yield	0.39%	3.76%
Distribution Frequency	Quarterly	Monthly

Top Holdings

IWF Top Holdings

Name	Weight
NVIDIA CorporationNVDA	12.82%
Apple Inc.AAPL	11.79%
Microsoft CorporationMSFT	8.78%
Broadcom Inc.AVGO	4.81%
Amazon.com, Inc.AMZN	4.61%
Tesla, Inc.TSLA	3.57%
Meta Platforms, Inc.META	3.28%
Alphabet Inc.GOOG	2.83%
Eli Lilly and CompanyLLY	2.62%

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose SHY if...

you want the lowest fees and plan to buy and hold long-term. Over decades, the expense ratio difference compounds significantly.

Choose IWF if...

recent performance momentum matters to your strategy. Note that past performance doesn't guarantee future results.

Choose SHY if...

you prioritize dividend income and want higher regular distributions from your portfolio.

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